The 90th Hunger Games
by SlimeySnake456
Summary: What if Peeta was killed by Cato and Katniss won the 74th Hunger Games? What if there never was any spark for a rebellion? What if Katniss just went on to be a mentor with Haymitch? What if the Quarter Quell was just to do with children and not past victors? The story is set before and during the 90th Hunger Games when with luck, Distrct12 may have its 4th victor. RatedT to be safe
1. Prologue

Prologue

What if Peeta was killed by Cato and Katniss won the 75th Hunger Games? What if there never was any spark for a rebellion? What if Katniss just went on to be a mentor with Haymitch? What if the Quarter Quell was just to do with children and not past victors?

The story is set before and during the 90th Hunger Games when with luck, District 12 may have it's 4th victor ever. It follows Katniss as she mentors her two tributes (Haymitch is dead) and watches them suffer in the games.


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One

I wake up at 10am, look at the calendar, and sigh. Today is reaping day. I'll have to take 2 tributes, a boy and a girl to the Capitol to face their near certain death. It used to be bearable because I had Haymitch with me, we were great friends after I won. But he died 3 years ago and the last two years without him have been frankly, horrible. I used to have him to brighten my days in the Capitol but now I have no one. I have a couple of past victor friends, like Finnick, Beetee and Johanna but it was different with someone from your own district.

Anyway, I climb out of bed and go downstairs into the kitchen and catch a quick glance at the picture of Peeta on the wall. He was my District partner in the 74th Hunger Games and gave his life for me which allowed me to kill Cato from District 2. I will be forever in debt to Peeta Mellark, the boy with the bread.. He loved me, so I have condemned myself to never love a living soul in that way again. Gale proposed to me 2 years after the games, and I said no in remembrance of my beloved Peeta.

I make jam on toast and eat it quickly. I'm in this house on my own since Prim got married to Henry and moved out. Along with my mother.

I get dressed and take a quick look at my house that I won't see for another 2-3 weeks and, with my suitcase, head down to the Justice Building to see the mayor.  
He drones on about the normal things, blah blah blah. Effie arrives a bit late and kisses me on my forehead, "Ugh go away I say" and she gives me a quick look of disapproval.

The time has come to choose the tributes for District 12, the time has come to choose who will die for the Capitol citizens entertainment more like.


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

I look out over the sea of children. 16 years ago I was there, dreading they wouldn't call my name out when they called out Prim's. That was the worst day of my life. I volunteered for her and gave myself near certain death. I won the games so here I am now.

Effie and the mayor drone on about the Treaty of Treason as always.

"As usual, ladies first", chirps out Effie in a high pitched squeal. She shoves in her hand and pulls out a slip with a girl's name on it, "Samantha Da..."

"I volunteer as tribute" I hear. What? What? A deliberate volunteer from District 12, how is this possible. Anyway, a beautiful blonde girl struts onto the stage and gleefully says her name into the microphone, "Katherine Barrow and I'm 18." Finally an eighteen year old. Maybe we will have another victor this year. Actually I said that last year with our two 18 year olds. They both died in the bloodbath.

The girl is standing triumphantly as Effie goes to read out the name of the boy, "Thomas O'Brien", I see a lean brown haired boy come up. He's clearly from the seam and is reasonably skinny. He's not victor I think to myself. But who knows? My odds were 25 to 1. Johanna Mason from District 7 had odds of 3000 to 1. Who knows? Our 4th ever victor may be here.

We all get escorted into the Justice building and the tributes get an hour for their goodbyes.

After an hour Effie waffling on about how much she's missed me, what's in and out of fashion on the Capitol and how amazing last year's games were I begin to turn off until s peacekeeper comes in and tells is it's time to go.

Finally.

We take a short car journey down to the station. Katherine is smiling and waving to people out the window. She's like a stupid career! Laughing and cheering that she has a high chance of death. Thomas however, is starting to cry. Just like Peeta did 16 years ago when he was reaped. I begin to feel sorry for the boy but then remember that I must not get too attached to my tributes or risk getting depressed when they die. That's the mistake I made the first few years. One year I got so attached to a little 12 year old that when she died in the bloodbath, I couldn't get out of bed for the rest of my tine in the Capitol. I place my hand on Thomas' knee and whisper, "It will be OK." It won't. He's never going to see his family again. It seems to have done the trick though and he wipes away his tears and tries to compose himself.

We arrive at the station and Effie escorts us onto the train.


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

On the train I have to introduce myself formally. My name is Katniss Everdeen and I am District Twelve's only living victor. That I will be their mentor for the build up and the games themselves.

I'm about to leave when Effie comes in, talking to herself about her schedule or something, I really don't care. Anyway, she comes in and turns me around, making me sit down. I try to resist but she insists and forces me to sit down like a mother to her child. I'm not really one to want to start an argument so I just go with it. She talks about our schedule and what is to be done on each day. Katherine, being the arrogant girl she clearly is, seems to know this already and has taken a huge interest in the fabric on her armchair. She must be bored. Thomas however, is acting just like Peeta did, he is looking intensively and soaking up every bit of information she gives up. Thomas reminds me so much of Peeta. I feel he may be someone who I get attached to and when he dies, I'll just get depressed. No. I must not get attached. But I can't help it.

Effie dismisses us and we all go to our quarters. I have a shower and get dressed into a short light green dress with flowers engraved into it with black leggings and flat shoes. I go to the food cart. Effie, Katherine and Thomas are already there. It's a buffet tonight. Oh good. Katherine, being from a wealthy family is eating with composure, is sitting up straight and is taking tiny mouthfuls on the end of her fork. Thomas however is digging in his hands and getting knee deep in it. He's probably never seen so much food, being from The Seam. Effie looks at him in disapproval so he looks around and thinks he has to stop. I give him a reassuring nudge and join in with him. He now knows that I'm on his side.

Effie and Katherine look at me in disgust. I can understand the look on Effie's face, but Katherine. She's already turning into a Capitol citizen. I can't believe I'm thinking this but I don't want her to win. I wouldn't be able to stand working with her. And we'd have to leave near each other! Ugh.

Dinner is over and we go to sit down in front of the television. A huge 80 inch television that when turned off can be seen straight through. You wouldn't have known it was there if it hadn't been on.

We sit down. Effie presses a small black button on the sofa and we begin to watch the reapings that have happened in all twelve districts today.

It starts with Caesar who is accompanied by last year's victor; Gracious Childs, the girl from District One. They discuss the reapings that they have already seen not going into too much detail though so not to give away too much information to the excited Capitol citizens.

First District One. There's two volunteers called Victor and Starlight. They're both eighteen. Next from District Two, there are two eighteen year old volunteers named, Klaine and Destiny. Klaine looks remarkably like my old nemesis, Cato. This sends shudders down my spine. District Three has some easily forgettable tributes. District Four has no volunteers this year surprisingly, but what does strike as terrible is they're brother and sister. District Five and Six are forgettable. Two strong sixteen year olds come out of Seven. The District Eight boy is forgettable, but the girl is a volunteer! That's weird, so far six volunteers, two of which aren't from the career districts. I can sense that Capitol citizen's excitement as this broadcasts all over Panem, and they haven't even seen our volunteer. District Nine is forgettable. District Ten has a huge seventeen year old and a tiny little twelve year old. I have flashbacks of Rue and Thresh and tears begin to well in my eyes. I fight them off. I can't cry in front of my tributes. It will make me look weak and unfit to mentor. Mind you, half the mentors are morphlings themselves.

Eleven is fairly forgettable although I can see that they've refurbished the Justice Building since I was there sixteen years ago.

And then we come to twelve, us. I see Katherine's huge grin on her face as she sees herself strut up to the stage. Thomas looks even worse than I first thought. He had gone a ghostly white and with every step he shook more. Katherine makes a snigger so I glare at her so she shuts up.

Afterwards, Effie says it's time to go to bed. Katherine walks away with her head held high and smiling. Thomas looks at me and says, "How am I going to survive against all of them?", I don't really know what to say but I manage to get something out, "You never know" I say. Great. Now I've made him feel like it's unlikely he'll survive. He probably already knows that but I don't want to dishearten him. Oh well. He'll be dead in a couple of weeks and won't have to think about it. I watch him walk out with his head held down low. I follow after him and go to my quarters to bed.

I sleep like a log. My nightmares stopped about a year ago. I guess my body just realised that it wasn't in the games anymore and it would stop reminding me of it. That's probably what happened to most victors. Over the past few years, Johanna Mason began to be nice to me, maybe her nightmares stopped. However I know Haymitch's didn't. They carried on right up to the night he died. He was probably having a nightmare on the night he died. A dream about his games, this time he was one of the 47 fallen tributes from his games.

I go into the food cart and see the clock. We're one hour away from the Capitol. One hour for me to be myself. I'll see my friends there though, Johanna, Finnick, Mags, Beetee, Wiress and Seeder. I would say Seeder is my best friend out of the lot. Usually when our tributes die in the bloodbath, we go sightseeing round the Capitol together, to take our minds off the horrors going on in the games. We started on my third year as a mentor. This year we'll probably go sightseeing, Thomas will die in the bloodbath and I couldn't care less about Katherine.

Effie and Katherine are already in there. I pick out some pancakes and some bacon which I top with maple syrup. One of the perks of the Capitol is the food. They'll definitely have my favourites there, especially the lamb stew with plums.

Thomas comes in and, as he did last night, eats with his hands. I don't join in with him. I know Effie will talk about me to her friends behind my back if I don't start being more civilised.

The hour goes fast and soon we can see the Capitol. Katherine runs to the window and giggles like a small child. Thomas just looks out the window and sighs. I was like that, the closer I got to the Capitol, the closer I got to my near certain death.

We arrive in the station and we are escorted off the train. I take Thomas to his stylist, and Effie takes Katherine. Thomas' stylist is my beloved Cinna. We have become great friends since my games. He married Portia and they now have three children. With the new president's permission, they came to live with me for a couple of months, to keep me company and to give the children a sense of how privileged they are in the Capitol. He has also taught them to be games haters like he is.

I see Cinna and instantly grin, once I let Thomas go with the prep team, I go with Cinna, I tell him how I've been and he tells me how he's been. He knows hate the Capitol but he tries to make it bearable for me. I love him for that.

After a couple of hours of catching up he says he has to go and attend to Thomas so I say goodbye and go to my quarters. I get dressed for the tribute parade tonight and sit on the bed. I turn on the television and watch another recap of the reapings.

I now vow to myself that this year I will try. I will try to get a tribute home. I will try to get Thomas home. I will let Thomas see his family again.


	5. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Cinna has been working with Thomas for the last eight hours. It is now nine o'clock and the parade will begin at eleven thirty. I haven't been able to see my tributes so it'll be a surprise to me what their parade outfits are.

I am escorted by Effie to the victors stand. I am the last one here. Everyone is chatting, laughing and having a good time. I am wearing a long red dress with a thick black belt. I am just standing there looking around at people. I catch the eyes of my fellow victors. Most people are stationed in their own district's area. I see Cashmere from One who smiles at me. Brutus from Two who is as stern as ever. I think he is a mentor this year and because the games are so important in District Two, he is probably under a lot of stress. He probably still hasn't forgiven me for killing Cato sixteen years ago because he was Cato's mentor. I catch the site of Cecelia from Eight who waves at me happily. I've never really got to know her but she seems really nice. I see Gordon from Eleven who won six years ago which brightened Seeder's mood considerably.

I am looking round for her when I see Finnick and run to hug him in a tight embrace. He is dressed in a tight pin striped suit. "Bit overdressed aren't you Finnick? Do you want to take some of it off?" He just laughs. I see Johanna who sees me and says, "I think we may have a victor from Seven this year!" excitedly. Finally I see Seeder. Looking like an old lady from the Seam back home. I hug her and we kiss cheeks in greeting. Finnick, Mags, Johanna, Seeder and I then talk for a while with Beetee and Wiress joining later.

We then here some loud trumpets and Caesar Flickerman's voice booming out. "IN ONE MINUTE, YOU WILL SEE THE TRIBUTES WE HAVE HEARD SO MUCH ABOUT!". A countdown from fifty down to zero starts and everyone apart from a few of the victors, including my group joins in.

When it gets to zero the doors open and District One comes out. All the tributes have fairly generic costumes, apart from One, Eight and Us. The boy and girl from one are wearing weird suits that make them look like human diamond sculptures. It is truly magnificent. The girl and boy from Eight are dressed in huge cloaks that flare up and is nearly getting in the faces of Nine behind them. That's quite funny actually. We have great costumes on. They are very like the costumes that Peeta and I wore but the flames are enormous. Towering ten meters each way. Completely engulfing both Thomas and Katherine. These three districts get more of their fair share of TV time but that's just how it happens in every games with some districts grabbing more attention than others. This is good because it means that Thomas will be directly in the spotlight of sponsors and with luck has already picked up a couple.


	6. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

After the tributes have gone inside. Peacekeepers come into the stand and one by one read put the districts, when your district is called, it is your time to leave the stand to go and see the your tributes or go to the hotels around the Capitol. By the time Four has gone, there are only half of us left. It is finally my chance to go and I get into a slight jog so I can get to Effie. No doubt she'll start moaning about me being late.

I see Effie, Katherine and Thomas and congratulate them for being so good out there. Katherine beams and Thomas just makes a small smile.

Effie escorts us up to our quarters and is boasting about the fact that we get the penthouse of the training centre.

When we get in there the look on Katherine's face is not in awe but in boredom. She supposedly seen it a before and just wants to get into the games. I hope she dies. But the look on Thomas' face is of pure amazement and awe. Exactly how I felt.

We have dinner and I have my favourite, lamb stew with plums which I think is delicious. I nudge Thomas to tell him to eat properly and he does, sort of. I don't think he's ever been taught. In the Seam, you never really get taught how to eat properly, when there's finally food on the table, you eat it as quickly as possible, not faff around with all this etiquette rubbish, I only learnt because my mother is from the rich part of our district and she made us.

After dinner, I tell both of them that they should get an early night. Even though they aren't having their private session for two days, they are being assessed from the moment they walk in. I'm going to go to the bar downstairs to see my friends for a while.

I take the lift down to the bottom floor. In the lift I am standing next to Gloss from District One, a past victor. We actually end up going into a full blown conversation. We end with saying that we're sorry we killed the two from each other's district. Funny that, how he just isn't bothered that I killed Marvel and Glimmer from his district and he doesn't hold a grudge. I don't hold a grudge because in district twelve we're not too bothered about the games but in a district that they're crazy about the games, I'm surprised he doesn't. He then adds in his low voice, "We all had to do what we had to do to get out of that hell hole". So that's why he doesn't hold a grudge.

I see Mags and walk over. I ask where the others are and all I get back is some grunt which I don't understand. I don't really know Mags. I know she won one of the first games, but that's all. She just seems to hang around with our group which is perfectly fine of course. I see Finnick talking to Annie. Annie! How could I have forgotten Annie?! She hasn't come to the games for about 8 years now, I wonder what brought her back.

She used to be all crazy but I don't think she still is, or at least she doesn't look it. I've watched her games which was only a few years before mine. She went crazy after her district partner was decapitated I think. My mind went sort of crazy after Peeta died. I completely failed on my first few years of mentoring but I had Haymitch with me so it was OK because he just took over. He knew what I was feeling. He understood. Effie just used to look at me like I was some weirdo. I go over and talk to Finnick and Annie. Annie seems to still be a bit odd but not as much as she used to be. Our group of three slowly turns into a group of eight; Finnick, Mags, Annie, Seeder, Johanna, Beetee and Wiress. I quite like Beetee and Wiress, they're really nice. I think it's mean the nicknames they've been given; Nuts and Volts.

I've been having such a good time when I look down and see my watch, "It's midnight" I exclaim. And at that moment the people start to file out. The bar probably closes at midnight anyway so that's alright. I say goodbye to my friends as their floor comes up and I'm in the lift on my own. Well that was one of the best nights I've ever had in the Capitol.

I quickly get into my bedroom and into bed in my clothes. I fall fast asleep.

In the night, I have my first nightmare for ages. I'm standing over Thomas' dead body with blood all over my hands. That's all it is, but it makes me realise that if I try too hard to get him home, it might just mean, he doesn't get home. I'm still going to try, but not as hard as I originally planned out


	7. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

I wake up and go to breakfast. I'm the first there and choose duck with delicious orange sauce and something the Capitol call Paella. It's sensational and I just want more. After three plates I am stuffed and I'm still the only one here. Maybe the others are breakfast in their rooms. That's probably the case. Katherine then comes in dressed in her training outfit with the number twelve oriented on the side. She is followed by Thomas and then Effie.

They have already had breakfast in their rooms. I tell Effie to go away which she takes the wrong way and talk strategy with my tributes.

I ask them about their strengths. Katherine is great with bows and Thomas is OK with a knife. I ask about alliances and Katherine says she wants TP join the careers. Of course she does. I hate her. Thomas says he isn't too bothered, he'll just go with the flow and see what happens.

I tell Katherine to show off her skills to the careers if she is to stand a chance of joining them.

I tell Thomas to not show his skills until he gets his private session. I specifically tell Katherine not to tell the careers about Thomas' skill, she clearly will. I tell him to learn survival skills because that is what will keep him alive in the games.

I send them off and the next two days are quite boring. I see my friends a bit but bot much.

The day of the individual training arrives and I tell them to show the game-makers everything they can do and not do a Johanna Mason and play it weak. Usually it doesn't work.

Katherine comes up the lift after her session first followed by Thomas. Katherine has a huge smile and Thomas has his face down low. He didn't do well. Damn that's annoying. No sponsors for him then.

We sit down after dinner to see the scores.

The boy from One gets nine and the girl gets eleven just like I did. Both from Two get ten which is standard from Two. The next load is just a mash up of twos to sevens. The boy from Seven gets ten and the girl gets nine. I can see what Johanna meant about getting a victor now. The volunteer from Eight gets nine. Eleven get six and seven. Seeder should be pleased with this. Now for us...

Katherine gets... It's gone deathly quiet in the room... A ten! Everyone in the room cheers and congratulates her. She us beaming.

Thomas gets... Come on, please please please be good... An eight! A huge smile comes across his face . He didn't do so badly after all. You can see by his face that he is genuinely surprised by this.

Tomorrow we have the interviews and the next day, it will be up to them to survive the horrors of the games.

With Katherine's ten and Thomas' eight I won't have to try too hard to get sponsors for them.


	8. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Today Effie is teaching about etiquette and how to present yourself and I'm talking to them about their interview and games strategy.

First I have Katherine. She says she wants to join the careers. She has already talked to them and expressed her interest. Even though I don't like Katherine, I still give her tips for the arena. I tell her not to stay with the careers for too long or they'll kill her. I tell her that when the careers choose to split up they usually fight. I tell her that I'd she hasn't left them yet to get out of there straight away. Even though she got a ten, she still won't survive a fight with the careers. They would gang up on her and kill her. I also tell het not to kill Thomas because if she does then wins I will never be able to forgive her. Her interview strategy is to act sexy and seductive. To act very like Glimmer did in my year. It can work to get sponsors which will be good for her. With her ten in training, so may be on the edge of supporting her. This will push them over the edge and collect up those sponsors. Portia has told me she will be wearing a tight short red dress and black high heels. She will look as sexy as possible. After this two hours of talking to her I've realised she isn't that bad and I now won't mind if she wins.

It's now Thomas' turn and this will be a bit harder so I ask Effie for three hours. She graciously accepts because she loves spending tine with Katherine.

Thomas is relatively undecided on his games strategy. He says he will need a knife. I don't usually tell tributes this but I tell him that if he thinks the closest knife is close enough to not get killed then go for it. But then he needs to get out of there straight away. I've told him to trek around looking for food and water only killing if he runs into people. He should make alliances when necessary and if confronted by the careers, run and climb a tree. He says he can climb and has practised in the training centre so this is good. His interview strategy is to act confident but prepared and determined. If sponsors see his sheer determination then they may be swerved to sponsor him. Cinna has told me he will be wearing a grey suit jacket with a white shirt and grey trousers. Pretty standard. He won't stand out too much but he will with his character and also his high training score.

The interviews come quickly and it's soon time for them.

Caesar starts the show all excited. This year he is in green. So a green outfit and a green wig.

First is One. The girl is going for the same sexy and seductive angle as Katherine. She seems to pull it off. Her name is Starlight. The boy is quite forgettable but his name is Victor.

All four from Two and Three are boring and boring. Brutus won't be happy about this at all. Good. I feel sorry for the two from Four. They are brother and sister and the twelve year old girl just won't stop crying. For the first time ever I think Caesar feels bad for her. Her brother doesn't look prepared at all. He is quiet and quite sad that he will never see his family again. So far I've only seen one person of victor quality who is the One girl. Maybe this year it won't be a career.

Five and Six are forgettable. Seven is not though. They have two crackers. The Capitol audience is loving Sam and Tessa as they just make fun of the other tributes. Especially those from One and Two. I even find it hilarious and they do close ups on those tributes' faces and that just makes it even more funny. Johanna must be happy, Sam and Tessa will now have loads of sponsors!

The girl from Eight isn't too memorable but she did get a nine in training which means she could get far. I do find out she is called Angie though. Nine to Eleven don't go down that well.

Now us.

First Katherine struts on. From the Capitol citizens reaction she is sexier and more seductive than Starlight from One. She gives quick straight talking answers and seems prepared. She shows off her dress which gives her a chance to show off even more of her legs. She does not however turn out slutty, she turns out sophisticated and friendly. The Capitol are loving it. She'll have picked up sponsors there and will have stolen some of Starlight's.

Now Thomas' turn. He starts well and is joking around with Caesar. He needs to do something memorable. Come on Thomas, come on. He tells a few jokes which puts the audience into hysterics. Good, he's made an impression. He seems determined, prepared and ready to win.

Caesar rounds it off my giving who he likes the most. He like the One girl, both from Seven and both from Twelve! That's great! Caesar is universally admired around the Capitol! That'll boost our sponsors enormously which is good.

Effie quickly escorts us up to our quarters. She sends Katherine and Thomas to bed and says, "I'll see you soon". Which is fair enough because she needs to give them all the luck they can get.

I go to bed too.


	9. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Today is the day of the games. The day that I could lose both Katherine. I'm a nervous wreck, I always am on the first day of the games. I can't remember how I felt on the first day of my games, I guess I just felt what about 20 people are feeling now, terrified. The careers will be excited though. Maybe Katherine and Angie will be too but I'm not too sure about them.

Effie knocks on my door and gives me a slip of paper. I'm to take Katherine to the hovercraft first followed by Thomas.

I go and knock on Katherine's door and she quickly opens it. She is dressed in a black outfit, much like the one I wore sixteen years ago. "You ready" I ask, "I was so excited about the games," she says," but now I'm just petrified". "Don't be", I reply. "You want to join the careers, if they sense any fear or regret they'll kill you on the spot". She brushes tears from her eyes and walks with me. "I think you have a good chance of winning. Just don't leave the careers too late". By now we're in the lift and onto the roof. It's only a one storey climb for us so it's very short. I look into her eyes and whisper, "Good luck", she smiles and walks to the hovercraft waiting over there. I wave and she gives a little shaking wave back. I actually feel quite sorry for her. She has now realised that volunteering was a mistake. I decide I want her to win. I want Thomas to win more, but I want her to try and win it.

I go down the lift and go to fetch Thomas. This time it takes a little longer for him to cone. He has obviously been crying. I tell him it'll be OK. That he can do it and that he just needs to believe in his abilities. He doesn't reply, just nods which shows how horrible and scared he feels. I give him a hug which he accepts before getting into the lift. We are now on the roof and just like I said to Katherine, I say, "Good Luck", he smiles and turns to go. I catch his hand and say, "Get a knife and go, run as fast as you can".

He leaves and I feel a tear running down my cheek. When he dies it's going to feel horrible.

-

It's half an hour before the games begin. Every year before the games but after the tributes have gone off to the arena, the arena is shown. This year it's bigger and better than ever. Caesar says it's going to be one of the best games ever. He literally cannot contain his excitement.

The arena is a ruined city surrounded by dense forest. The cornucopia is made of bricks and is in the middle of a ruined city with big tall buildings and rubble and sharp rocks/bricks everywhere. The city goes on for about 1.5km each way until it suddenly turns into deciduous forest full of animals and really tall trees going up to 60m. There are small lakes in the forest. The forest gradually gets denser and denser until it is virtually impenetrable. The forest is full of mutts. The only way to get food and water is to go into the city because there is no food in the forest and the water is extremely acidic. This draws the tributes into the city where most of the deaths will occur. The mutts ate disallowed inside the perimeter of the city so the game makers make the mutts chase the tributes into the city. Although the city is quite small, the forest goes on endlessly. The forest is safer, but there is no food, the city is dangerous but is full of a bounty of food, water, weapons and supplies.

The time has come. Two minutes until the games will begin. I am sitting on a sofa in a bar with Seeder and Johanna. We are all gripping each other's hands tightly and praying that our and each other's tributes don't die.

The tributes come up the tubes and the countdown begins. The countdown gets to 20 and the District 6 girl walks off her pedestal! I know she's twelve and got a 2 in training but there's no need to commit suicide! She blows up into smithereens. District 6 will not be happy now.

The countdown gets to 0 and the bloodbath begins. The second to die is the seventeen year old from 4. I look over at Finnick who has his head in his hands. His other tribute is a thirteen year old who got a 4 and just wouldn't stop crying in her interview.

The next few die in quick succession. I can see Katherine team up with the careers and puck off the weaker tributes. She kills both from Five in one swing of an axe. Good work. I see Thomas sprinting to a knife. He picks it up and then just runs for his life. He runs away from the cornucopia toward to woods one and a half kilometres away. He running so fast that he's the first person to get there. I now know he is safe.

Both from Seven have got to the forest and have teamed up. The girl from Eight has joined the careers which isn't a surprise.

It starts to get dark suite quickly. The careers have come across their first non bloodbath tribute, the D4 girl who wouldn't stop crying in her interview. Katherine slits her throat. Finnick gives me a stern look and storms off.

The first day is over. The people who have died today are:

D6 Female 24th  
D4 Male 23rd  
D5 Male 22nd  
D3 Male 21st  
D5 Female 20th  
D3 Female 19th  
D6 Male 18th  
D9 Male 17th  
D8 Male 16th  
D10 Female 15th  
D4 Female 14th

There are 13 left, two of which are mine which feels great. It's the first time in six years this has happened. Seeder and Johanna are over the moon too. Finnick and Mags are just annoyed. I wasn't annoyed with him when his tributes killed both my tributes last year! He had a victor two years ago too! He should be sad that they're dead but District Four have had more than their fair share of victors. They've had what, ten, twelve? We've had three! Haymitch who won the 50th. Henry Price who won the 3rd and me who won the 74th. Henry Price who won the 3rd, Haymitch who won the 50th and me who won the 74th. He'll only end up going to all his admirers houses and having sex anyway though I hopefully won't see too much of him.

I go to bed knowing I still have a chance to get Katherine or Thomas home.


	10. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

In the night I have another nightmare. It's the same one as before. Me looking over Thomas with my hands covered in blood. I must be getting too stressed about Thomas being in the games. I keep telling myself that if he dies it's not the end of the world, but it doesn't seem to be working.

I wake up in the middle of the night all sweaty and horrible. I realise it was just a dream, again. I ask an avox to bring me some hot milk. I quickly turn on the TV and see that during the night the District 11 girl has been killed. I'm not really thinking about Seeder at the moment, she should be fine. What I'm thinking of is that I have a sixth of the people who are left, but so do three other districts so it isn't an enormous achievement but it's the best we've done in years.

I drink my hot milk and try to go back to sleep but I can't. I just can't stop thinking about how Thomas and Katherine are doing. Katherine should soon be thinking about leaving the careers and Thomas, well, I don't know what'll happen to Thomas.

I wake up in the morning in a right state. While I was asleep then the District 10 boy has been killed. 11 left.

The deaths on the second day are:

D11 Female 13th  
D10 Male 12th

The next two days are me just striding up and down my room or a bar or the living room or anywhere anxiously waiting for news.

A bell rings while I'm in a bar with Johanna so we know that something will happen soon.

The careers are arguing. The District Eight girl isn't there though. She must have left already, wise plan.

I then see Katherine! Katherine! I told you to leave them! It's the fifth day! She'll be sure to die now.

The District One boy isn't there for some reason. They're in the ruined city part of the arena by the way.

Now the fighting starts. The District One girl and Katherine against both from District Two. The District One boy clearly knows what's happening but just doesn't want to interfere knowing that a couple will die. The four are fighting for a good ten minutes, ducking under branches, doing forward rolls to get out of the way of a sword swing and hacking away at each other. Ten minutes in and the only one completely fine is Starlight from One.

I can feel my heart beating super fast. I feel like it's going to just pop out of my body!

The District One boy now finally appears. This is one of the climaxes of the games so the game makers want to make it extra special.

A huge orange cat-like mutt pounces on the District One boy out of no where and rips his head off which makes Katherine scream. Destiny manages to kill it and everyone is completely startled.

Two more appear twenty metres away and Katherine just screams, "RUN!" She starts and the others follow suit. They're only one hundred metres away from the city and they've already worked out that the mutts in the forest cannot go into there. It's a sprint for survival.

After fifty metres and only a few seconds, Klaine from two trips up on a root and falls. He's a goner. The others just carry on running as he is devoured by a mutt. The other mutts are still in pursuit of them though. I look down and see that I've been clenching Johanna's hand so tightly that it's gone a ghostly White. "Sorry", I apologise. "It's absolutely fine" she replies with.

After thirty metres they're fine then twenty then ten then... "YES!" I scream. I'm stood up and people are looking at me. It's not over yet Katniss, they're still going to fight so I sit back down again. I'm not too sure if the same alliances remain, but it seems they do. Katherine goes around the back of Destiny and Starlight stays at the front. Destiny stays alive for quite a while actually. Good work from her. It's when she leaves her right side open for attack when Katherine thrusts her sword into Destiny's side. Destiny replies with a high pitched scream and falls to the ground. Starlight from One the lifts axe into the air behind her head and descends it down into Destiny. She then does it again, and again. The cannon has already gone off but Starlight seems to be getting some sick pleasure out of this.

While she is doing this, Katherine plunges a knife into Starlight's arm which makes her senses come back and she fights with Katherine.

Katherine should have just run off while she had the chance, now she's fighting against the girl who got an eleven. The fight is extremely bloody and even if Katherine does win this fight, she'll never survive the next hour. Katherine has taken Starlight''s left arm off and both her ears. Starlight has taken Katherine's eye out and her right foot. The battle since the Careers started to argue has gone on fir a good hour now. Then comes the deciding part. Katherine falls over because of the instability of her feet which means Starlight stabs her. When Katherine is doubling over in pain, Starlight takes her chance and decapitates Katherine. The cannon goes off and Starlight has got through four people today. She will likely be the victor.

The deaths today were:

D1 Male 11th  
D2 Male 10th  
D2 Female 9th  
D12 Female 8th

7 left. The betting will to furious now. The odds of Starlight winning have gone up to 1 to 3, she should win but I've still got hopes for Thomas to win.

The look on Thomas' face when Katherine's face is seen in the sky is just horrific. He's six people away from becoming the next victor. The reality of it all seems to be hitting him hard. He's spent the whole games in the woods. He must be starving. He gas sponsors so I send him some bread with a note saying, "You can do it - K". He smiles, looks to the sky and mouths the word thank you. This bread should keep him going for a couple of days but who knows. He may be dead in a couple of days. Seven is now the only district with both tributes left.

The tributes left are:

D1 Female  
D7 Male  
D7 Female  
D8 Female  
D9 Female  
D11 Male  
D12 Male

The victor is right there. I go to sleep knowing that Thomas is alive and well.


	11. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

I wake up early. Very early in fact. I don't know why but the Capitol citizens' 'games fever' must be rubbing off on me. I'm finding myself craving to know more. Which is really annoying because on the sixth day nothing happens which is annoying. There's a small fight with the District Nine girl and one of the cat mutts in the woods but nothing else.

A bell rings in my bedroom at five o'clock in the evening. I quickly turn on the TV and hear Claudius Templesmith's voice booming out over the arena. "There will be a feast tomorrow at the cornucopia at sunrise. To get there you will of course have to go through the city. Each of you need something and we feel we are obliged to give you what you need. Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favour." I know Thomas will be going. His bread is running out, he needs food and the price for food for the tributes is bow sky high now that there's only seven left in the arena.

I decide to get an early night and go to bed at six. At midnight the bell rings again. I wake up and see that the District 11 boy has run into Thomas on the way to the cornucopia. Come on Thomas, you can do it. I can feel Seeder doing the exact same thing but for the opposite person. The District 11 boy has a spear and throws it at Thomas and misses. The winner of this fight is already decided then. Thomas throws one knife at Samuel I think his name is. The knife hits Samuel in the chest and knocks him to the ground, everyone knows that Samuel is a goner now. He tries to crawl away but Thomas is running after him. Thomas takes the knife out of Samuel's chest which makes Samuel gasp for air. It must have punctured a lung. Thomas then looks into Samuel's eyes and mouths the word 'sorry'. Samuel acknowledges Thomas' apology knowing that Thomas definitely did not want to do it. Samuel gasps and says, "Fuck you Snow", and with that Thomas slits Samuel's throat. The cannon goes off.

He then starts to cry. I mean he is properly crying. I remember when Rue died, I cried for nearly a whole day. I also had nightmares about it for the next ten years after it. If Thomas wins, he'll be condemned to constant torture in his head for what he has done.

After about twenty minutes or crying, Thomas realises that he must carry on moving to the cornucopia. He gets out of the forest and into the city. He knows that Starlight will be walking around the city but he has no choice but to carry on to the cornucopia. He finally gets to the outskirts of the cornucopia. He's hiding in a derelict building and waits.

I go to sleep until six o'clock when a bell rings that means it's half an hour until the feast.

I get dressed and move down to the bar. I see Johanna there and decide not to sit there seeing as both her tributes are still in and one of them will likely die. I go and sit with Finnick and Mags who are sitting lazily on a sofa. "Excited?" Finnick asks. "Not excited, terrified, we may have our fourth ever victor this year, imagine that!" I reply. "I wouldn't keep your hopes up, Starlight is still on the prowl".

Oh yeah. Starlight. I someone kills her.

The feast is about to begin and a table with bags with the numbers 1, 7, 8, 9 and 12 on appear on top of the table.

The District Nine girl then sprints out straight away, gets her bag and leaves. She's doing a Foxface strategy. I don't think she's killed anyone all games.

Both from Seven then run out together. They take their bag and start to sprint off. As they are past the podiums where the games started, Starlight pops out of nowhere and blocks their way out. This is what the Capitol viewers want. A big bloody battle.

While these three are eyeing each other up, Thomas makes a run for it. He gets his backpack and swerves put of the way of a knife thrown by Angie from Eight. He gets away. He is the fastest person left so she won't catch him. Angie gets her pack and leaves too.

Sam, Tessa and Starlight are still fighting hard. They've got blood all over them. Tessa seems to be wounded. Sam sensed that they'll both die and makes a run for it, pack in hand. Tessa bow has no chance and within a minute is a corpse. Sam is already away and Starlight can't do anything about it.

So that's it, five left, one of them is Thomas.

There are no more deaths for the rest of the day. The people that have died on the seventh day are:

D11 Male 7th  
D7 Female 6th

It's getting unbelievably tense now. Five people left. Four more people to kill and Thomas is out of there.


	12. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

The atmosphere in the Capitol is electric. Everyone is going crazy about the final climax of the games.

On the eight day of the games, I just have interview after TV appearance after interview. Thomas is apparently the third favourite out of the five left behind Starlight and Sam.

I'm in the middle of an interview when a bell rings because something important must be happening. I pray that it's not Thomas. Firstly I don't want him to die but also he also needs to emotionally prepare for the games finale.

The two tributes involved are Sam from Seven and the District Nine girl who I find out is called Jamine. The fight is quite short lived but Jamine puts up a good fight.

They are in a derelict building in the city. Jamine just starts to run away, she knows she doesn't stand a chance. Sam is chasing her for about a minute when Jamine runs into a dead end. She pulls out a knife to protect herself.

With that Sam pulls out a throwing axe and throws it straight at Jamine, she dives but it scrapes a huge chunk of flesh off her leg. She screams out in pain and tries to get back up. She throws a knife which hits Sam's right arm and gets stuck in there. He curses and runs to her. She pulls put another knife and throws it and it hits the same arm a but a bit lower down. She knows she is going to die. You can see it in her eyes bur she doesn't want Sam to win so she is trying to hurt him. She gets out her last knife and throws it. This time it hits a bit lower down in his calf and he falls over. She sees a chance to get away and attempts to run. She gets a couple of metres but falls over. Sam then gets the axe he threw at her earlier. She's trying to crawl away. She turns around and realises it's the end of her life. She turns over onto her back wanting to get the quickest death possible. Sam raises the axe behind his back and runs it down into her stomach, she screams and screams. Sam doesn't look like he's enjoying it. He does it again, this time on her neck which decapitates her. The cannon goes off. He gets up, picks up her pack too which has food and did have three knives in. He limps away.

My interview carries on and I'm able to finish it but I can't contain my excitement for the finale. The interviewer can definitely see my excitement.

I get back to the hotel we're in. I pass Johanna who looks at me in a stern way knowing my tribute has a better chance than hers. I see Seeder, Annie, Finnick and Mags together who all congratulate me and say they're rooting for Thomas, they're doing this for me. Seeder especially, she got some sponsors together who sent him some bread and water. She directed the sponsors from eleven to twelve. Finnick used his seductive powers to lure female sponsors in and Mags just looked at them and grunted which didn't do much help.

Thomas now has the most sponsors and the best odds, his odds of winning are 3 to 1 in front of Starlight, then Angie then Destiny.

It's evening and most people have gone to the bar but I decide to go to bed.

Only one tribute died on the eighth day:

D9 Female

I wake up and go down to the bar after breakfast. I see my friends and they say that Angie and Starlight are both in the city and are very close. They're in different buildings but are only twenty metres away. I can't think of anyone here that isn't District One or Two that isn't rooting for Angie.

Angie sees Starlight and runs behind a pillar pulling out a long sharp knife in both hands. Starlight hears the sound and goes to investigate knowing it can't be a mutt because mutts can't get into the city.

Angie peeks round the pillar and sees it's Starlight. Starlight seems to have healed from her wounds thanks to Capitol medicine from a sponsor, I mean she still has no ears or left arm but she seems OK. Angie knows that Starlight has gone a bit psycho because she watched her kill the careers, including Katherine.

Starlight hears something more and silently moves closer to the pillar, they're now five metres away from each other. Angie suddenly jumps out and throws a knife at Starlight, and goes back behind the pillar pulling out another. The knife stabs straight into Starlight's thigh which Starlight lets out a groan to. Angie then makes a run for it bit trips up. She knows she will have to fight Starlight now.

Starlight runs at her with a machete in one hand and a spear in another. She throws the spear which misses and Angie pucks it up. Angie now has a weapon to fight hand to hand with. They're eyeing each other up and Starlight makes the first movie and lunges at Angie. They're now fighting properly. They're Borg amazing at fighting. Angie isn't really fighting, just ducking and diving away from Starlight's powerful blows.

I can now see that Angie is trying to tire Starlight out and it's working because Starlight is becoming more and more slow.

Angie seizes her chance and stabs a knife into each of Starlight's eyes. Starlight does a blood curdling scream. She is now blind and Angie is the certain winner. Angie then gets the spear and plunges it into Starlight's neck. She lets out a sound and falls to the floor. The cannon goes off.

On the other side of the city about two hours later, Sam is sitting on the floor resting his leg in an alleyway.

Thomas is walking round the city when he sees a leg sticking out of an alleyway. It's got hair on it so he knows it's Sam's leg. He stealthily stalks Thomas. Thomas hears a shuffle and knows that he may have to give a fight.

He turns the corner, knife in hand and buries the knife into Sam's chest. Sam who was not expecting this just looks up at his killer and dies. The cannon goes off.

There are now only two people left. Angie from Eight and Thomas from Twelve. District Eight have had enough victors, they should let Twelve have one.

The deaths on the ninth day were:

D1 Female  
D7 Male


	13. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Two left. Only two left. I don't sleep at all that night.

I'm in the bar at three in the afternoon when the Capitol want the finale. Claudius Templesmith booms his voice over the arena, "Attention tributes, as you know, the Capitol mutations are not allowed in the city. Well we plan to let them in. The only place where they can't go is inside the ring of podiums around the cornucopia. Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favour."

Angie is quite close to the ring of podiums, about three hundred metres so runs to the cornucopia.

Thomas however is ten metres away from the city-forest border and can see cat and dog mutts appearing in the forest. He drops his pack with the food and puts his three knives into his pocket. He then runs. He's faster than the mutts but they have better stamina.

He's running as fast as he can and can hear the mutts on his tail. He's a hundred metres away and can see Angie on top of the cornucopia.

Angie sees Thomas running towards the ring of podiums with about twenty cat and dog mutts behind him. Her heart is beating fast but she us preparing herself for her final battle. After this she will either be dead or the victor.

I can feel my heart beating so fast watching this. All of my friends are around me. Apparently I've gone completely white like a ghost.

Thomas has got to the circle of podiums! You can see the mutts try to run in but as soon as they pass an invisible line they turn to dust.

He looks at the cornucopia and Angie isn't there. Coming from inside is her. She's charging with her spear in hand. He knows that if he gets her spear out of the circle she will only have her knives left. She gets about ten metres away from him and throws the spear. It lands in his left leg. He groans, takes the spear out of his calf and throws it out the circle to the mutts.

He's succeeded but now he'll be a bit slow on his feet. He should be alright and win the fight.

He stands and throws a knife which lands in her arm which makes her scream with rage. She is about twenty metres away and has to go back and pick up the knife. This gives Thomas a while to compose himself and get ready for the fight to come. Angie collects the knife and begins to run at Thomas. You can see the Thomas is about to do the thing he doesn't like, hand to hand combat.

She's ten metres away now and beginning to slow down. Thomas tries to stand, groans in pain but manages to stay upright. She starts to walk towards him, two knives in each hand with a fierce serious look on her pale face. Thomas looks frightened but prepared for the fight. Angie is obviously the favourtite to win. Come on Thomas! You can do it!

She lunges at him and he dives out the way onto the cold hard ground. She lunges at him again and again and again, each time he only narrowly misses her blows. He's just trying to dodge all of her strikes. Thomas needs to fight, he needs to kill her. The blood coming out his leg has died down a bit and I realise that he was just trying to let the wound stop bleeding until he starts to fight. His face is straight and emotionless. Good. He can't show fear.

After about ten minutes of lunging and dodging, Thomas begins to retaliate and they look like they're sword frighting, just with very small swords. Suddenly something unexpected happens and Claudius begins to speak during the fight. He better have something extremely important to talk about, they never ever announce anything mid-fight. The announcement is short and slick, he talks quickly but with precision and composure. They stop fighting and move about five metres away from each other. "Tributes, the mutts will now be allowed inside the ring of podiums, the only safe place is on top of the cornucopia, good luck and may the odds be ever in your favour."

Angie instantly charges for the cornucopia with Thomas behind and a hoard of hundreds of mutts at their tail. They need to be faster than the mutts here because they are also coming from the other side of the cornucopia so if Thomas and Angie are not faster, the cornucopia will be overrun with mutts. While I'm thinking about this, Thomas and Angie are sprinting full pelt for the cornucopia. You'd think Thomas' leg was fine if you hadn't seen the wound. He must be in extreme pain. They get to the foot of the cornucopia and have to begin to climb the three metres to the top.

This is just like my games I think. Only I had Peeta with me, he gave his life for me. Thomas does not have anyone to give their life for his. He's on his own and Angie is clearly the superior fighter, he'll just have to use his intelligent and initiative to survive. Angie scrambles us in seconds and has a few seconds at the top to get ready for this final fight. When Thomas is about two feet from the top, the mutts reach the bottom and jump at his leg. They bite thought the clotted wound which makes it begin to bleed again. Thomas lets out a low moan but continues to climb.

As soon as he's up there, Angie pounces on her and after a bit of tumbling over each other. This is exactly like my games too, except Angie is Clove. It's just like when Clove was on top of me and Thresh came to save me. Except there's no one left to save Thomas. She strokes his face and says, "Aw no, it's so bad that I'll have to kill you, you were my favourite tribute by far... Oh well!" She raises the knife into the air to stab into his neck.

What happens next is so fast, I cannot believe it. Thomas brings up the knife in his right hand and plunges it straight into Angie's side. This makes her do a blood-curdling scream and fall off Thomas' front. Thomas gets up, she's trying to crawl away. By the time he is up she has got a couple of metres away and looks back at him in fear. She turns onto her front and pleads, "Please don't kill me, please don't!"

Thomas replies in a mean voice, "Oh that's funny, it was only a minute ago that you said you were going to kill me, you know what I'm going to do, I'm going to kill you." He raises the knife in the air and brings it down to hit her stomach. She pleads and screams as he raises and falls the knife. he's clearly not enjoying it and after every blow, her screams and pleads die don a bit more. All the way to the point that the screams stop. She must be unconscious. Thomas realises this and walks over to her neck. Tears in his eyes, he slowly slits her throat. The cannon goes off. He looks to the sky

I can't believe it. He has done it. He's won. He has won the 90th Hunger Games.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

The day has come when I will be able to see Thomas. I'm in front of two large doors which obviously open to a huge hall. On the other side will be Thomas. I've expressed my excitement so they've let me see him alone before he sees Effie and Cinna before the newly introduced Victor parade.

The doors open and he's just standing there looking around in awe of the room.

Our eyes meet and for a moment in time, nothing happens. Nothing matters anymore. All that matters is that he's alive. I run to him and give him a huge hug. He graciously accepts and gives it back.

We then sit on a sofa and he tells me of his experience in the games.

"It was so scary. I don't know what to feel anymore. At the start of the games I was accepting my imminent death and now I've won it. It just feels amazing."

"How do you feel about... you know" I ask.

He looks at the ground so I reach out to hold his hand. "I can never forgive myself for what I've done in there. Especially the District Eleven boy, we were friends in training too! And I just killed him!"

"But killing him was the only reason you're here now."

"Sometimes I wish the spear he threw hit me. I wish I was one of the twenty three that are dead."

"Don't you dare think like that." I say sternly. "How could you think like that? How could you? You've won The Hunger Games. You should be proud of yourself."

I try to direct his thoughts away from the District Eleven boy over the next hour talking about what he thinks his parents are doing and what is going on back in District Twelve. But I know, deep in my heart. That Samuel Waite from District Eleven is his Rue or Peeta. He will have horrible nightmares about Samuel that he will have no control over. No way to stop. I feel deeply sorry for him. Him going into the games has made my nightmares about Rue and Peeta come back. I remember how horrible they were in the first few years and know that's what he will be going through.

I stand up and reach out for his hand which he firmly clasps. We walk out of the halls and down a couple of corridors and into another hall. In there is Cinna and Effie who are both completely ecstatic about the situation. That's good. Make him feel better about his feelings about killing people.

His meeting with Effie is short lived because he has to go and get ready for the Victor parade, the highlights, the interview, the crowning ceremony and the party afterwards in the President's mansion. He goes off with Cinna so I am just stuck with Effie who can't control her excitement and is telling me how much more Victor qualities he has than me. Thanks Effie, if we were both in the games, I'd kill you first.

I've really had enough of Effie so just walk off without even saying anything. I go to the bar, onto the terrace and look out over the Capitol. It's beautiful at this time of day. The sun is shining brightly and there are minimal clouds in the deep blue sky. I can see the Capitol citizens are having a whale of a time, dancing and singing and holding up banners with Thomas' face on. This is all well and good but what about the other twenty three who participated. What about Katherine and Sam and Tessa and Starlight and Angie and Jamine? What about them? They don't get praised for participating. They just get forgotten and thrown into a new pile of dead tributes. That's another thing I hate about the games. When I won there wasn't even a question in the interview that regarded Peeta, the person who gave his life for me. Not one.

I've been in the bar on my own for about two hours thinking about life. I get told that it's time to get ready. Cinna has laid out a dress for me on my bed. It's a long elegant red dress with flame marks at the bottom. In the Capitol I am still regarded as the Girl on Fire. The girl who volunteered for her sister and won the Seventy Fourth Hunger Games.

For the victor parade, I won't be in the stands watching, I will be under a makeshift stage at the end of the parade avenue. Fifteen minutes after the parade, one by one our team will rise up onto the stage. First his prep team, then Cinna, then Effie, then me, then him.

I'm escorted towards the scaffolding under the stage and wait.

I know when the parade has started because of the ear piercing screams from the stands. The Capitol citizens are really getting into the 'games fever' and by the time he's gone under the scaffolding to get his costume off, I think I've gone deaf.

I see Thomas and he waves and smiles at me. I smile back knowing that this constant state of happiness won't last. There's a high chance he'll turn to drugs or in extreme cases with some victors, kill himself. That's what Chaff from District Eleven did. He won the forty-fifth hunger games and a few years ago decided to end his life which was probably tormented with horrible memories from the games.

Thomas comes over about ten minutes later. He's wearing an all black buttoned up tuxedo with a black bow tie. His brown hair is styled into a quiff. He looks really slick and professional. I have a small feeling he might be swiped up into the Victor sex slaves group like Finnick and Enobaria did but I quickly wipe that thought away.

Someone comes up to me and says that it's thirty seconds until the prep team goes up. This will be alright. I will be OK. Last time I was here I was the victor, the centre of attention and I hated the whole thing. Maybe because I'm not the centre of attention this time I will enjoy it.

I see the prep team rise on a platform and the already piercing screams get louder. Cinna then goes up. The sound is excruciatingly loud now.

Effie goes up and is jumping up and down waving like a four year old. Classic Effie.

Now it's my turn. I turn around and look at Thomas. "Good luck", I say. He smiles and gestures to the platform where I go and stand.

The lights are so bright and the screams are so loud I nearly can't hear them anymore but I just smile and wave. They're all chanting my name, "Katniss! Katniss! Katniss!" I didn't realise they liked me so much.

I'm escorted to the side where the prep team. Cinna and Effie are standing.

Now for the big climax. Thomas rises up and waves frantically at the crowd. He's jumping up and down and cheering. The exact opposite to my reaction. I just stood there and waved with a straight face. This might just be an act to hide his true feelings, I hope it is, but I can't tell.

He comes over to all six of us and pulls us over to the middle of the stage where we all bow in a line. With Thomas in the middle, of course.

We are escorted inside to the interview studio where the prep team, Effie, Cinna, Thomas and I will all have interviews with Caesar Flickerman. He's bound to ask questions to me about my games. I'm dreading it.


	15. Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

First is the prep team. Their interview is quite boring, apart from one part which is hilarious when one of them starts to hyperventilate because she is so excited, collapses on the floor and has to be escorted off my paramedics.

Next is Effie who tried to stay as elegant, polite and posh as possible. Caesar can see this and is trying to make her loosen up a bit. Which she does and by the end of it she's slouching in her seat. She comes off saying that it was just a one off and that she can never be like that again and that she felt like someone from District Twelve which makes her shudder. This makes me laugh.

Cinna goes on and Caesar is talking about his fashion choices for Thomas. I'm surprised that Caesar and the audience find it so interesting. It never struck me as interesting. However nothing to do with fashion or the Capitol or the games struck me as remotely interesting.

Now it's my turn. Caesar begins by introducing me, "Our fourth guest is a very special one indeed! She is one of few people that can say, 'I won the Hunger Games' and is admired all over Panem. It's your one and only girl on fire, it's Katniss Everdeen!"

The Capitol audience literally goes mental. They standing and screaming and chanting my name and whistling and holding up banners with my face on and holding up flaming torches in the air because I am of course, the girl on fire.

Caesar eventually calms them down and invites me to sit down.

He starts off my asking how ice been since my games.

"I've been OK. Life has had it's ups and downs (losing Gale) but yes it's been a pleasant experience."

"Now you were admired and still are admired for your exceptional archery skills, how have you tried to implement your skills onto your tributes?"

"Well I gave them strategy tips, especially to Katherine. I told her to leave the career pack which is what Angie did but she didn't listen. I think that's why she died. But Thomas has won so she was going to die at some point." This makes the audience laugh. I don't find it funny. I look up to see Seeder in the audience and she just shrugs.

He then goes onto ask about my time in District Twelve, my time away from the Capitol and how bad I must feel to be away from all the 'wonderful people' here and how Prim is.

I just give short answers. He can sense that I'm hating it. In my initial interview of the seventy-fourth hunger games I had to make it out that I was loving every second of it. But then I won it. In the victor interview, the one that Thomas will soon have I just gave short one word answers and Haymitch just gave the excuse that I was affected by my traumatic experience in the games. Which is fair enough. I hated the games. Even though I won it and my life is so much better than it was I would give anything to go back and not have my sister's name drawn in the reaping, so I could live happily in District Twelve where the only care I would have would be to get food on the table. I missy old life terribly.

The interview ends a few minutes early because Caesar just runs out of things to ask because my answers are so short.

Now it's Thomas' turn.

He walks into the wings and Caesar begins his introduction. "Now for the main event, the star attraction of this evening. He started out as a poor young boy from District Twelve and finished as a strong healthy Victor from District Twelve. It is the one, and only, Thomas O'Brien!."

I thought what the audience did for me was bad. The audience for Thomas all look like they've just escaped from a mental asylum or something, they're all just going absolutely mental. Some are even fainting they're so excited.

When I won, the audience just gave me a simple standing ovation. They probably didn't want me to win. Of course they didn't. They wanted the handsome boy from District Two that they'd be able to turn into a sex slave. Cato.

Thomas must have been the people's favourite to win. He must have. It's only ever a few victors that get a response like this. I mean I did when I came out just then but they've known me for sixteen years now so I'm quite the celebrity in Panem but no one had even heard of Thomas two weeks ago!

This is a good sign because it means that the Capitol don't want him dead like they do with a few other victors, Haymitch being one of them. But he's dead now so that's alright. Johanna is wanted dead and she's told me that all her family was killed after the games. I dread to think why.

Thomas' interview goes by in quite a blur and in what feels like five minutes his interview has finished. It's now time for the highlights.

I sit on a sofa backstage with a delicious alcoholic drink in my hand. I can't quite pin point what it is, but it tastes divine. I see Thomas' face has dropped as it all begins to kick off. The reapings and time in the Capitol are all over in about half an hour.

Then the games start. We all see the District Six girl commit suicide at the start which seemed to make everyone jump apart from Thomas which is why he got in and out of there so fast with that knife. We see every single kill up close and it great detail. Thomas' face is dropping more and I know that he just wants to get off there. Get out of here. Get back home and forget the whole thing. This is just giving him back the memories that he's trying so hard to forget. I see how Katherine kills two people in the bloodbath and joins the careers. I see her slit the throat of the poor girl from District Four after the bloodbath. I can however observe that she isn't enjoying it. Which is good because the worst people in the games are always the people that go all psychopath. The victor two years ago from District Six went seriously crazy in the games and in her victor interview didn't answer any questions and just sat there looking into Caesar's eyes. If Starlight had won, I can't dread to think what she would have been like post games.

We see how the careers go round the arena killing off tributes. We see Angie sense that they will soon turn on each other and leave on the fourth night. On the fifth day the careers did turn on each other. Wise move from Angie.

We see it all. How Victor from One and Klaine from Two were killed by the cat mutts and Katherine and Starlight killing Destiny from Two. Starlight seems to have been enjoying it even more than I remember. She hacking away with an axe and Destiny's body laughing and cheering. Katherine the stabs Starlight who eventually kills her. The Capitol audience are loving it but I think it's disgusting. But I think everything to do with the games is disgusting so there's no change there then.

Thomas then kills Samuel from Eleven which you can see he hated and Starlight kills Tessa from Seven who was betrayed by her district partner.

We see Jamine die which was always going to happen but she did put up a good fight. District Nine should be proud of her.

They show Sam from Seven die next even though he died after Starlight. They must want Angie and Starlight's fight to be part of the huge finale.

They show this one in full too. How Angie skilfully tired out Starlight by using her speed and agility to dodge all her blows. Angie then plunges the knives into Starlight's eyes which makes the audience cheer. Huh, it seems Starlight must have not been a favourite to win at all. District One is nearly always a favourite. I don't know why she wasn't.

Then for the ending. They show how the two remaining tributes hear the announcement and make a dash for the cornucopia. Thomas really only just got there. His trouser leg actually gets bitten by a mutt but then the mutt turns to dust when it hits the ring of podium. Angie storms out of the cornucopia. This ending fight only lasts about a minute and is probably the shortest victor fight ever. Thomas throws his knives and Angie throws hers. There's no actual hand to hand which is good because Thomas would never have survived if there was.

Angie dies, the cannon goes off and the three hour show finishes with a shot of Thomas' face when he found out he won.

It finally finishes and he is able to come off. He does not look OK at all. He's gone a ghostly white and looks like he's going to be sick.

I manage to tell Effie that we can't go to the party and take Thomas to our quarters. Once we're there he's sick all over the floor right in the doorway. An avox rushes over to help and takes him to his room.

It must have been because he couldn't bear to remember it all. I remember when I won and having to watch Peeta die in front of my eyes over and over and over again until I nearly went to the brink of doing a 'District Six' as us victors call it (all their victors are on drugs) and taking drugs.

I dearly hope Thomas doesn't go down that route. He's obviously going to get all the attention over the next few years. The underdog from Twelve.

I go up to my quarters while looking forward to being able to go home tomorrow. District Twelve will be going crazy at the moment. Our fourth victor in ninety years! How exciting! I can't wait to see Prim and my mother. I can't wait to see Thomas be reunited with his family. Wait. I've never heard anything about Thomas' family.


	16. Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

I'm intrigued and don't go to bed even though we've got another big day tomorrow. I walk out of my bedroom and into the hallway of the apartment.

I ask an avox if she can find me some information on Thomas. She comes back with a touch screen pad type thing. I've never used something like this before. I mean I've seen them in the Capitol but never actually used one.

I touch the screen and it suddenly lights up in a flash. I'm startled but get back to looking for info on Thomas' family.

I'm looking for about an hour until I give up. Nothing. Nothing what so ever on his family. Nothing on his friends either. That's really really weird.

I go to Thomas' door and knock. I know full well that he isn't feeling well but I'm intrigued. He opens the door and has seemed to have lightened up a bit. An avox must have given him some special medicine to make him feel better. It seems to have dine the trick and he invites me in.

We sit down on two chairs and an avox brings us two glasses of milk. When the avox has gone he asks me why I have come.

Here goes. "Thomas, I know that you and I are both excited about going back to District Twelve. I'm excited about seeing my sister Prim. Are you excited about seeing your friends and family?" He seems to have known this question was going to come sooner or later. He sighs and drops his eyes to the ground.

"I have no family" he replies with. Oh. "My father died in a mining accident before I was born and my mother died in childbirth with me on the day your sister was reaped and you volunteered for her. I grew up in an orphanage but ran away three years ago. I've lived in the woods ever since but gone into the district once a year for the reapings. Everyone thought I was dead before the reapings. The Capitol knew I was alive but they don't care at all about District Twelve. I've lived in a small house by a lake for three years now. I've been alone for three years"

That was a shock. The Capitol never mention if someone is an orphan ever. Family of the tributes usually isn't that important until they get to the later stages of the games and they're interviewed. Maybe this is why they didn't do the interviews this year.

I lean in and give him a hug. He accepts it and gives it back. "You're not alone now," I whisper in his ear. He smiles and I get up and begin to walk out. I turn around and smile back.

In the space of about five minutes I've found out that he's all alone in the world. Apart from my family which I see about once a fortnight, I'm alone too. I've been alone for the past few years. Ever since Haymitch was taken away from me.

I go back to my room and lay down on my bed. I turn the lights off with the press of a button. I don't care if I'm still in my clothes. As soon as I close my eyes, I'm asleep. Instantly.

My eyes slowly flutter open. Someone is shaking me and I see it's Effie. She's shaking me and shouting for me to get up. She's shouting something about us being late for the train or something. Go away. I don't like you.

I throw some jeans and a T-shirt. I ask for a bacon sandwich and it appears within a matter of seconds. I scoff it down and walk out of my room and into the hallway where the two of them are waiting for me.

Effie chirps out some more nonsense and Thomas rolls his eyes. This makes me laugh and Effie scowl. Being a mentor with Thomas may actually be quite good fun. You never know.

We are escorted down an escalator and into a lobby. There is a glass walkway leading into a car. On the other side of the glass is screaming fans being pressed right up against it. In this lobby is Cinna and Portia. Portia and I kiss each other's cheeks and I compliment her dress which makes her smile. Cinna and I engage in a tight embrace. I won't see him for six months until the victory tour which is less time than the last fifteen years but it's still sad.

First into the walkway is Effie who just slowly walks in waving at the crowd.

I tell Thomas that it'll be easier if he just makes a run for it. He goes first and sprints as fast as he can and dives into the car which clearly startles and annoys Effie which is good. I then do a fast walk into the car. The door closes and the car makes it's way to the train station. We are sitting on smooth tight leather seats and the windows are blacked out, we can see out, but they can't see in. Thank god. Lining the streets are screaming crowds. Effie presses a button so the window starts to wind down but the screams of the crowds are so excruciatingly painful on the ears that she puts it up within a couple of seconds.

We arrive at the station within about five minutes and get out through another glass walkway. This time the glass is sound proof so we can see people going crazy but can't actually hear it. It's quite funny actually and it males Thomas chuckle to himself.

There's no waiting around in the station as the train is already there and two minutes after being in the car, we are on the train.

The train journey is pretty uneventful. Effie tells Thomas that she is excited about seeing him again in six months which makes him yawn. She obviously is insulted by his strange lack of courtesy but doesn't seem to hold a grudge against him. She eventually shuts up which is a relief.

We have dinner which is boring. Some Capitol food. It's nice but I'm yearning for District Twelve. A few hours from now and we'll be home.

I go to bed but surprisingly take a while to get to sleep. Probably because I'm so relieved about being back home.

I've been asleep for about five hours when Effie is knocking on my door for me to wake up.

I go through to the food cart but she tells me there's no time for food. In five minutes we'll be in District Twelve. I can already feel the train slowing down.

The train eventually comes to a stop and we are allowed off. Thomas asks if I can go with him which shouldn't be allowed but he's not very confident so I do. The doors open and the flashes from the cameras are so bright I can barely see. There's no glass walkway this time so we are escorted to a car with peacekeepers.

The car journey takes us to the Victors village which is empty of the media. This is good.

We drive around the ring of houses and stop in front of one of the ones that hasn't been lived in yet. This will be Thomas' house for the rest of his life.

"I love it" he says. This makes me smile.

"We'll be right next door to each other so if you ever need anything just ask."

"OK" he replies.

I go to my house and Thomas goes into his.

* * *

**So Thomas is going to be a mentor with Katniss and that's the end! I hope you enjoyed the story, I am currently writing my next story a sort of sequel to this one. I should have the first chapter up by around Christmas and then we'll go from there.**


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